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The committee heard he felt a “great sense of shame, sorrow and regret” for his actions.

After covering up his misconduct for years, he “felt a weight being lifted” from his shoulders.

Mr Brownson himself estimated that replacing what he had taken with new items would cost between £8,000 and £10,000.

The panel said in their conclusion: "The action of stealing equipment belonging to the NHS would inevitably cause indirect harm to patients.

"The NHS was, and is, financially depleted and, in depriving patients of essential equipment, you put those patients at risk of potential harm and seriously undermined public confidence in the profession."

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The panel acknowledged that Mr Brownson had returned some of the stole items, voluntarily confessed and shown “genuine remorse, shame and guilt”.

But he had also shown a “tendency to minimise the level of his dishonesty by categorising the items that he stole as obsolete,” the committee added.

They said the case had involved a “serious level of dishonesty” and it was “fundamentally incompatible” for Mr Brownson to remain on the nursing register.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is the regulator for all nursing and midwifery professions in the UK and the council maintains a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to work in the country.